Alma 34:9
1830 Edition
for it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God, there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen, and are lost, and must perish, except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made;
Changes
Simple English
This payment must be made. God’s great plan says there must be a payment made. If not, all people must die. All people have hard hearts. All people have fallen and are lost. They must die unless this payment is made.
Paraphrase
An atonement has to be made. According to the eternal plan of God, there must be an atonement, or all humanity will inevitably perish. We’re all hardened. We’re all fallen, lost, and headed for destruction—unless the atonement is made.
Notes
The phrase, "expedient that" can be found in 2 Nephi 9:15; Alma 34:9; Mosiah 13:27; D&C 9:3
Other common phrases include "dwindled in unbelief" (2 Nephi 26:15; Helaman 15:11, Ether 4:3, D&C 3:18), "it must needs be" (1 Nephi 15:33; Alma 32:28; 3 Nephi 5:1; D&C 48:3), "save it were" (Helaman 3:23; 4 Nephi 1:5; D&C 18:35), "sufficeth me" (2 Nephi 11:1; Jarom 1:2; Ether 3:17), "would that ye should" (Alma 38:5; Mosiah 1:3; Omni 1:2; D7C 46:7).
"After noticing that the same phrases of two or more words appear time after time throughout Joseph Smith's scriptures, we did a computer search to identify these groups of words and feel that they provide evidence that the Book of Mormon, the Inspired Version of the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price were all the product of one mind.... When we find a number of different Book of Mormon writers-e.g., Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Moroni and Mormon-all using many of the same unusual word combinations, we begin to suspect that all these books were actually written by one person."-Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 39.